Hi Ruth
I understand that the reason behind abolishing SWMPs was part of the simpler regulation initiative. It was seen that large contractors do them anyway because commercially it makes sense and helped them to manage their wastes on a development site. However, smaller developers avoided them because they were either below the development value threshold or they just got away with it. In addition, the legislation wasn't helping to reduce fly tipping.
At CGL, we have always recommended that a SWMP is produced, regardless of the proposed legislative changes. They necessarily encompass the Materials Management Plan and the Remediation Plan. But more importantly perhaps, they have to clearly outline issues such as responsibilities, identification of waste streams, areas for reduction/reuse/recycling, duty of care, performance monitoring, etc. All of this is good practice and the SWMP is a format for promoting and recording this.
Ultimately, having SWMPs as a planning requirement is a stick to ensuring that they are done, so we would prefer that the legislation remained.
Regards
Andy
Business Director
CGL
www.cardgeotechnics.co.uk
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